SCION’S PREPPY DA PLEA
Murder-case letter
The Manhattan scion accused of killing his millionaire hedgefunder dad is trying to pull strings to get out of jail, appealing to DA Cyrus Vance Jr. by reminding him they both attended the same prep school.
“I’m a graduate of Buckley,” Thomas Gilbert Jr. said in a letter to Vance, referring to The Buckley School, a private Upper East Side school whose alumnae include exMayor John Lindsay and philanthropist David Rockefeller Jr.
Gilbert Jr., 31 — accused of shooting Thomas Gilbert Sr. at the father’s Midtown apartment in January — pours on the flattery in his appeal, sent from the Manhattan Detention Complex.
“Fortunately I’ve had access to the newspapers and have enjoyed reading articles about the DA’s offices and the city’s various cases,” he wrote. “I was impressed by the overall decline in crime this summer, and the success of the [DA office’s] allout program.”
After noting that he went to the finest schools, including the Deerfield Academy and Princeton University, Gilbert whines that its unfair that a wealthy person such as himself is being treated like a commoner.
“From the beginning of this highprofile case,” he wrote. “I’ve been railroaded through hearings with no access to capital.”
Gilbert eventually gets to the point — asking Vance to spring him on bail.
“Further incarceration will not only be physically dangerous, but also continue to inflict irreparable damage on my personal life and career,” he writes.
Finally, he lobbies Vance for the ultimate favor.
“Ideally my optimal goal is to dismiss and seal [the] indictment,” he wrote.
Judge Melissa Jackson is expected to rule Monday on whether Gilbert is fit to proceed to trial in Manhattan Supreme Court.
His lawyer, Alex Spiro, cited the letter as proof that Gilbert was mentally unfit.
But prosecutor Craig Ortner countered that the letter shows Gilbert can make rational arguments.
Spiro declined to comment Sunday.